Life as a Christian wife, mother and business owner

Being a Mom: The Struggle is Real

I have always wanted to be a mother and when our little blessing came into the world, I couldn’t have been more excited! However, there are a lot of things I didn’t realize about being a mom.

1) You’ll learn to run on 5 hours of sleep (or less) during the first few weeks. Don’t even get your hopes up about sleeping any longer than that. It does get better, though. We got lucky – our little one started sleeping through the night around 5 1/2 weeks! There are still times when she wakes up at 2 or 4 am but those 8-hour stretches make it allllll better!

2) Just get used to your house being messier than it was before. I’ve never considered myself a “neat freak,” but I’ve discovered that I am SO aggravated when my house isn’t relatively clean. I see dishes piling up, laundry that hasn’t been washed in a week and floors that have food spots and dog hair accumulating all over the place. My new motto “I’ll get to it when I get to it.” And I do… usually.

3) Showers are a luxury. No kidding. I feel like I’ve spent all day in a spa when I get out of a 10-minute shower. And on days that I don’t get that luxury, I feel like I’ve spent the day mulling through a dumpster.

4) You’ll accomplish more in a 30-minute nap time than you used to get done in a day. My baby likes to cat-nap, so I don’t get to have an hour of free time when I can lounge around the house doing things here & there. It’s like as soon as I lay her down, I go into lightning mode cleaning here, catching up on an episode of TV there, or just sitting down for the first time in 5 hours. And don’t even get me started on bathroom breaks. That’s something I never had to think about until I became a mom!

5) You’ll probably never be able to eat a meal uninterrupted again. I can’t believe how much I took that for granted. Now, I try to scarf down a sandwich before LO (little one) needs something. And cooking… oh man. I was never much of a cook to begin with but now I hardly ever get to cook something that doesn’t come from a box or a can.

6) The poops… ohhhh man. Who knew something so disgusting could come from such a tiny little person? And the best part is when you go somewhere and look down at your shirt in horror as you realize you have poop on you and you never even knew it. (But remember – you’re probably not getting a shower today so just fahgeddaboutit).

7) One day, you’re going to get a really bad headache. Or a cold. Or you just won’t feel that great. But will you get to take a day to rest it off? Of course not! Your child doesn’t know that you aren’t feeling well. She just knows she’s hungry and you’re not coming to her aid fast enough! Let the screaming commence! (Cuz that’s the first thing you want to hear when your head is pounding).

8) Every one of the above mentioned situations are well worth it. That little face smiling up at you or nuzzling her nose into your shoulder just completely melt your heart. And don’t get me started on the laughs! I think I tear up every time I can get a good light-up-her-face laugh out of my LO. So no matter how much different things are now, or how difficult some of the struggles can be, nothing will ever replace the feeling your baby gives you when she looks at you like only a baby can look at her mother.